Water heater



E. L. ESTES WATER HEATER 1ct. 3, w33.

Filed July 6, 1932 a kPatented Cct.` 3,

lo Waren daarna Tz'ra LfEstes, Shawnee, Okla. Y

11 This invention relates to improvements inheat ing attachments for. `water-tanks `and pertainsfY `particularly to adevice@ designed to be I attached Y ftoastand boiler.,y i f 1 ,The primaryvobjectz-of the present invention '.isttovprovide a heater which will apply heat 'to' the wall of a boiler throughout the lengthjthereoi and over a circumferential area and :thereby rapr idly heat the adjacentportionof the contents oi Another object of the inventionr is'to provider a `device1for;application to theside of a y,boilerA whichl is designed .toconcentrate theheat fromA nalburner disposedadjacent-thelower part of the f 15 .boilenagainst thewallof thejboiler and throughoutthe lengthofthesame."l y 'l t A still furtherobject of the invention t'opro-l zvidea heating Ydevice for `ar water boiler, which is f Aheavily insulatedyandiinwhich `the kinsulation operatesas; a means for radiating the heat `rays from a heating unit against thewall of thelboiler to `which the devicefis attached.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description 25 taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specication, withthe understanding, however, that ythe invention is not confined toany strict conformity withthe showa ing of the drawing but may be changed orvmodi- 3o fled so long as such changes or modications mark no material departure from the-salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Inthe drawingz y l o Figure 1 is a viewin elevation of awater boiler showing the heating device applied to the side thereof; 1 1 f Figure'2 is a Vertical sectional view taken `substantially upon the line 2--2-of Figurel;

Figure 3 is a" transverse sectional view taken upon the line 3;-3of Figure 1. f o y c Referring now more particularly tothe drawing wherein like numerals,v of referenceindicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a,

the numeral 1 indicates generally aV stand boiler of the usual type which is supported'upon ythe feet 2 and which is provided rat its top' with a water draw-off pipe 3. f a i The device embodyngthe present invention is indicated as a whole byfthenumeral 4. This device comprisesanelongatedj shell having a back:

wall 5 and the integral side walls 6." This shell is of substantially the same length as the boilerv 1 and is positionedwith the free edges of itsside Fv walls 6 against the Wall` of the boiler as clearly 1 illustrated in Figure 3, and is held inithis position f by the bands-'7 rwhich surround Athe boilerand ,the-shell. g.

The lowerendfof the heater `:shell isfopen and theside Wlls thereof are cutoutasindicated at y' lSto receive a pipe -9 `which extends transversely of the-'lowerend of the Vshellandgwhich is connected with a fleadg-infpipey 10 o through rwhich gas ror otherJ suitable y-iuel isfed to the burner units 1'1 which are` mounted upon the pipe ill in the 65 manner illustratedin` Figure 2, It is preferred that gasfbe used as afuelinrjconnection Withthe present heaterand that Vthenunits,11 beof Athe wellknowrr radiant type.- y

f, Avsrshown vin Figure 2 therhickiiess or the sheii 70 ofthe heateris greaterat the bottomthan at the topandz-the,innersurfacewof the back wall k5 ithereof has applied theretoarelatively. thick body ,of` insulation-12, the major portion of .the inner isurface ofwhich is lin vrelatively close l.proximity Ito the Wall ofthe y boiler forming the narrowheat passageway 13. Adjacent its lower end this bodyy f 12 of insulation is cut rback: to'form the breast 14 against which the heat wavesr rising from the heater element 11 impinge and from which .they 80 are directed inwardly toward Ythe wall ofv the` boiler. As shown, the spacebetweenthe insulation body andthe wallv of the boiler below this breast 14 is materially wider'than the space' above the breast which is indicated by the vnuineral 13 and in this wider space which isy indicated by the numeral 15, the burner units v11 are disposed. 1

' The inner faces of the side walls 6 of theheater shell are also covered Withinsulation material as indicatedat 16, this material extending into and contacting the wall of the boiler.

Atits upper end the shell of the heater is con? f stricted or reduced 'in width and thickness as indicatedat 17 and is coupled with and'opens'into 95 a flue pipe 1,8 by means of "which the products of combustion' from the burners are carriedoff.`

l' The inner side of the nue 18 above the insulated portion of the shell, is extended laterally to form a Ashoulder 19 Whichrests upo-nthe `top of `the 100 f boiler and assists in supporting the heating unit in position.

` f From the foregoing it will bereadily seen that by the use of the present'device the heat generated bythe burner units 1l will ow upwardly through 105i the narrow passage 13 between the wall of insu# lation andthe wall of the tank ,land'will heat the j :contents/'of the tank adjacent this narrow area over which it passes. It will also be apparent that byk providing the relatively thick wall of insulation heat will be taken up thereby and radiated to the tank over a considerable period after the actual operation of the burner units is discontinued.

The burner units 11 have been conventionally illustrated. It is preferable that burners of the radiant heater type be employed but this is not necessary to the operation of the device as Bunsen type burnersor any other suitable type may be used ifA found desirable. In the event that radiant heater burners are employedthe heating elements will face toward the tank. Y

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:-

l. A heating device for a water tank, comprising an elongated relatively flat casing having one side open, means for securing the casing to the tank with the open side directed toward the tank, a relatively thick body of insulation extending throughout the inner surface of the back wall of said casing and forming with the adjacent tank wall a relatively 4narrow heat passage; the lower end of said body of insulation being of less thickness than the upper portion and forming a breast designed to direct heat rays inwardly toward the tankwall, a heating element inthe lower part of said casing beneath said breast, and a vent pipe connected with the upper end of the-casing.

2. A water tank heater comprising an elongated body of Vinsulation material having a back wall portionand side walls, means for securing the free edges of the sidewalls against a water tank, the body extending longitudinally of the tank,vthe said back wall portion being of substantial thickness throughoutqthe major portion of its length and of reduced` thickness from a point adjacent its lower end to the lower end, the-inner surface of the body between the portion of reduced thickness and the overlying thick portion being arched to form a breast, the saidbody being open at its upper and lower ends, afheating unit disposed within the body adjacent the lower end beneath said breast, and a vent pipe connected with the upper end of the body for removing the products of combustion from the heater.

3. A heater for attachment to a stand boiler, comprising an elongated shell having a back wall and right angularly directed side walls and open at its ends, means for securing said shell longitudinally of and against a water tank with the free edges of the side walls in contact therewith, a body, of insulation overlying the inner surfaces of the sideand back walls of the shell body, the

4insulation body overlying the back wall of the shell'being of substantial thickness from a point adjacent the upper end of the shell to a point inwardlyof the lower end thereof and then gradually reducing in thickness and terminating in a portion of^materially less thickness than the upper portion and forming a breast, the insulation material on the back wall of the shell above the said breast forming with the adjacent tank wall a relatively narrow heat passageway, heating elements disposed between the tank wall and the back `wall body of insulation beneath the said breast, and a vent pipe connected with the upper end of the shell, said vent pipe having a portion extending inwardly for engagement with the top of the adjacent tank to assist in maintaining the heater in position thereagainst. y

4. A heater attachment for a water boiler, comprising a body having a chamber open at one side and formedof insulation, means for securing said body against the side of the boiler with the open side of thel chamber thereagainst, said body having that chamber wall confronting the boiler reduced in thickness from its inner surface over an area located adjacent one end of the body, a breast extending from the top of the area of reduced thickness inwardly toward the boiler, a heating element in the body chamber beneath said breast, and a vent pipe connected with the chamber adjacent the edgeof -the body remote from the rst mentioned edge. y

EZRA L. ESTES. 

